so I'm pretty new to knitting. i did a nice blue heather wool sweater for my daughter that turned out OK, but i now think was beginner's luck!

i think after this i've convinced my (cheap) self that i have to use nice yarn/wool. This is Lion Brand Wool Ease, thick and chunky. i wanted to do this to see if i could follow a basketweave pattern (i pretty much could) but the sleeves are toooo long and the body (although i followed the pattern) is too short. the armpit is too tight. this is the pattern: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/30306AD.html?noImages=also, i'm terrible at setting in sleeves... any advice there? I start sewing at the shoulder, fold the sleeve in half to line it up, then sew from the cuff half way up, then sweater body and armpit last. but i do end up fudging in the armpit. I think some patterns are just better than others.any advice will be warmly welcomed!!

did you check your gauges? That could be why the body and the sleeves are off (it took me awhile to realize that the gauges are there for a reason when i started knitting ). As for the sleeves i had the same problem when i first started knitting too. I started crocheting the two peices together and that helped make it stretchier so it wasnt tight. I also always start at the armpit because i find that the starting and ending point is always the ugliest. Maybe starting there will help you too. I hope this helps, sorry if it doesnt!

Yes, compare your row gauge to the pattern and you may have to adjust for your arms or body length anyway. Most patterns give the lengths as a measurement, but if they say 'work 46 rows' and your row gauge is off, then you need to convert that to inches and then knit that length. I have longer arms so I'd probably make sleeves a couple inches longer than the patterns say (if I followed patterns).

It's much easier to sew in the top of the sleeve from the shoulder to the underam before you sew the side and sleeve seams. Then you can do those as one long seam. Better yet is to make a top down seamless sweater then there's no sewing needed at all.

Second, you're pretty new to knitting, so don't stress if things aren't perfect! They are learning experiences.

Third, I agree with the previous posters, you might've had a gauge-issue. Give it another try perhaps with a top-down raglan pattern, those are great first-sweaters The nicer the yarn doesn't necessarily make better sweaters. Better to learn and make mistakes with less-than-stellar yarn first and then knit something with nicer yarn once you've polished the skills needed for the pattern

It doesn't look bad at all. I haven't got that much to say about the armpits but take a sweater that fits and have a look there, probably you need to insert a piece... but adding some length to the body shouldn't be that much of a problem, then you'd have a sweater that's long at arms and body, so your daughter can grow into it.